


Five Names Cord Bestowed Upon the Blind Man (and One the Blind Man Bestowed Upon Himself)

by misura



Category: Circle of Iron | The Silent Flute (1978)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-09-03 14:58:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: so apparently, my brain translates: 'this character has no name in canon, but do feel free to make one up for him' as: 'look! a plotbunny!'
sorry to say the Blind Man remains nameless in this ... or does he? dum-dum-dum!
(no, sorry, I'm going to go ahead and spoil you for the fact that yes, he does.)
also: a treat





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galerian_ash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galerian_ash/gifts).



> so apparently, my brain translates: 'this character has no name in canon, but do feel free to make one up for him' as: 'look! a plotbunny!'
> 
> sorry to say the Blind Man remains nameless in this ... or does he? dum-dum-dum!
> 
> (no, sorry, I'm going to go ahead and spoil you for the fact that yes, he does.)
> 
> also: a treat

.01

"My name?" the Blind Man repeated, sounding slightly amused. "Why?"

"Well, I can't just call you 'Hey You'," Cord said, hoping he sounded sensible, practical, rather than like a child who's been denied a treat. (Truth be told, he felt like the latter, so he doubted he'd been successful.) "I mean, what form of address is that?"

"If you insist on calling me anything, 'Hey You' will serve well enough."

Cord frowned. "But what if I'm talking to someone else? Someone whose name I don't know? What, should I just call them 'Hey You' as well? That's just confusing."

"Will you be confused, or will they?"

"Everyone will be confused," Cord said. "And they should be."

"If confusion is what you seek, and addressing me as 'Hey You' will achieve that goal, then what is your complaint? If you are thirsty and someone offers you water, would you complain that it is not wine?"

"That's not the issue. Water and wine, calling someone by their name and just calling someone 'Hey You' - those things are nothing alike at all."

"Aren't they?"

"Do you think they are alike?" Cord countered.

"Do you think they are different?"

Cord sighed. "I'm thirsty."

 

.02

"There is a trick to staying dry when it's raining," the Blind Man said, lifting his eyes to the sky as if he could see the clouds gathering there. "Sadly, it is one I cannot teach you."

Cord sniffed. He'd heard of people smelling rain, but the only thing _he_ smelled were the scents of the forest around them. "Why not? What's the trick?"

"The trick," the Blind Man said, reaching out and pulling him closer, as Cord felt the first few drops fall down on his arms, "is to be in the company of someone taller."

"Well, I don't really mind getting wet." Cord grinned. He minded their physical closeness even less, the Blind Man's wiry body pressed closely to his own. "So that works for me."

"Did you retake your vow of chastity?"

An interesting question, given the circumstances, Cord thought. His body seemed well ahead of his brains, already providing an answer before his mouth was able to shape the word. "No."

"Good."

(There was a name, hovering on the edge of his mind the next morning, but it was a fleeting, fragile thing, and he feared it might not survive if he voiced it so soon after the event that had created it, so he let it quietly slip away, preserving it only in his heart.)

 

.03

The reward for defeating the warlord who had been terrorizing the countryside had been handsome, if not rich, which was to say they might now consider themselves the owners of a cart full of produce, ranging from cabbages to radishes to peaches. There were even a few modest sized bags of rice, which unlike the rest of the lot, would keep beyond the next few days.

Spying a basket of bright red apples, Cord smiled.

"Here. Teach me that thing you did with the apple," he said, tossing one at the Blind Man.

"Eating? Throwing with something resembling accuracy?"

"You know what I mean. The - " Cord gestured, then wondered why he bothered. "Our first meeting. I tried to imitate you, but I just turned it into mush."

"And you said that it was not important."

"I changed my mind," Cord said. "Go on, teach me. I want to learn."

The Blind Man scoffed. "You have a knife. If you wish for two perfect halves, you can cut it. You have no need for this lesson."

"Didn't you hear me? I said I want to learn."

"Did you not hear _me_? The lesson is taught. If you have failed to grasp it, then perhaps it was beyond you."

"You didn't - " Cord frowned. "Wait. You have a knife, too, don't you? You _cheated_?"

"I ate an apple," the Blind Man said, loosely gripping the apple Cord had thrown him.

Cord shook his head. "You cheated. I can't believe this. It was nothing more than a trick. You're a cheater."

"Am I? Or was it you, who cheated yourself?"

"I'm calling you 'Cheater' from now on." Cord sighed, tossing the apple he'd picked for himself back into the basket. They might be able to sell the lot, make some actual coin, provided they reached a sizable town quickly enough - which seemed unlikely, but then, perhaps they'd get lucky.

The Blind Man tightened his grip, and the apple in his hands split into two perfect halves.

 

.04

"Teach me," the Blind Man said, his hands hovering uncertainly over the wound - the bleeding had mostly stopped, so Cord wasn't too worried. He might have put on the bandaging himself, had, in fact, been about to do so, but, well. "Tell me what needs to be done. Quickly."

"Just - " Cord felt a little light-headed. He wondered if any of the arrows had been poisoned. That would complicate matters. "Just wrap it. Tightly. Not too tightly," he added, after a moment's consideration.

Hopefully, he had simply lost more blood than he'd assumed. Things had gone a bit blurry for a while. The wound in his side was the most obvious one, but he felt smaller cuts and bruises all over his body. A good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast ought to take care of most of them. He would deal with what remained in the morning.

"There. How's that?"

_Too tight._ "Fine," Cord said. "Well done, Student."

"I am grown unused to needing to worry about fools rushing in where they are neither wanted nor needed," the Blind Man said, which Cord assumed to be 'thank you' and 'sorry' and a few other things, all wrapped up in one.

"I wasn't really thinking," he admitted. "I just acted. Didn't mean to make you worry."

"If you intend to save a man and instead are responsible for his death, does that make you any less culpable?"

Cord smiled. "Are you saying that I will be the death of you?"

"Does that which is obvious to anyone with the eyes to see require being put into words?"

 

.05

"To really act like a blind man, you need bells," the Blind Man said, and Cord grinned.

Already, with the blindfold covering his eyes, he felt more alive, more _aware_. He felt the blood, pumping through his veins, his heart, beating steadily, his muscles, relaxed but ready to spring into action.

It was as if in cutting off one of his senses, all his others had strengthened.

"You wouldn't happen to have a spare pair, do you?" he asked, bouncing on his feet just to get rid of a little bit of all that energy flowing through him. "Can't I just borrow yours?"

"Can I borrow your eyes?" the Blind Man asked, dryly, and Cord laughed.

"Sure. Anything of me that you want, it's yours. You don't even need to ask."

He heard the bells, coming closer. He imagined he smelled the Blind Man, or at least sensed the heat of his body, his presence.

"You don't need a blindfold to look like a fool. Or to sound like one."

"Don't - " Cord said, too late. He blinked at the sudden intensity of the sunlight. "Oh, come on. How else am I supposed to learn?"

The Blind Man had already turned, walking away, blindfold in one hand. "Didn't you hear me? To properly learn, you need bells. Do you imagine we might find them here?"

"So you _are_ going to teach me," Cord said, catching up.

"If you cannot learn, what makes you think that you can be taught?"

"The fact that you're my teacher," Cord said. "And I don't just think it. I know it."

"I will concede that you have much to learn," the Blind Man said.

"Yes, Teacher." The Blind Man scowled; Cord grinned. "Thank you, Teacher."

 

.01

"Does a man need to name himself to the ant he is about to step on?" the Blind Man asked.

"Actually," Cord said, "that's my brother. Younger brother," he added, by way of explanation.

"I see." No apologies forthcoming, obviously.

Fair enough. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my mother."

"I believe I can make my own introductions." The Blind Man inclined his head very slightly. "I am Cord's friend, teacher, and companion."

"Also lover," Cord said. His mother would suss it out with one look at his face; might as well get it out in the open right now. "And he's a little prickly, so don't annoy him."

"Indeed," the Blind Man said. "Cord dislikes it when others usurp his prerogative."


End file.
